The New Age of Gems
by BlunderDip52
Summary: The Gem Homeworld is creating Era 3 Gems, stronger and meaner than ever. They plan on invading Earth and taking control of it by using those Gems, some of which include Crystal Quartz and a mysterious Gem haunting Steven's dreams.
1. Chapter 1: A Bad Dream

**Chapter I** : A Bad Dream

Steven awoke suddenly to the majestic Temple quivering under stress. It had been months since the Crystal Gems, a team of magical guardians who defended Earth from attacks, similar to this one, from the elusive Gem Homeworld. Amethyst barged out from her room inside the Temple, ready to battle. She was soon followed by Garnet and Pearl, who both looked worried.

"Steven, wake up! We're under attack!" Pearl shouted at Steven. He was already up because of the shaking, but Pearl didn't seem to notice.

"I'm up, I'm up" he said groggily.

He had a nightmare the previous night about a Gem that he didn't know. The Gem was standing in a dark room, facing away from dream Steven. Her breathing was eerie. Then, as quick as lightning, she turned around. Her big, white, soulless eyes flared, looking towards Steven. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he tried to summon his Gem weapon, which was a shield, but every time it ended up disappearing right after he summoned it. _This new Gem must be really powerful..._ , Steven thought. But before he could finish his thought, the eerie Gem started moving slowly, closer and closer, until she was inches from Steven's nose. Then, she SNAPPED!

"AAAAAHHH!" Steven woke up screaming that morning.

"Steven!" Amethyst and Pearl both replied at the same time.

"What happened?" Pearl wondered.

Seeing as he didn't want to worry the other Gems, he just replied with "Oh, it was just a bad dream."

But seeing what's happening now, he wished he hadn't kept his mouth shut about the eerie Gem.


	2. Chapter 2: Attack on the Waterfront

**Chapter II:** Attack on the Waterfront

The Crystal Gems were once again ready for battle. But the enemy they would be facing would require them to put more effort into their battle formation.

It was Jasper.

A formidable enemy - two years ago, she became corrupted after being easily defeated by the fusion Smoky Quartz. She still is, but was now under the control of Crystal Quartz, her lifelong friend. She was almost all white, except for a periwinkle-colored dress. Her hair and skin were that of Jasper's (before her corruption) but was as white as a marshmallow.

Garnet gasped when she saw Crystal Quartz.

"This creature, once my friend, has told me that one of you pathetic misfits is the infamous Rose Quartz!" Crystal cried out.

A silence fell over the Crystal Gems. Then, Steven yelled out, "I'M ROSE QUARTZ!"

"Oh, really? Then show it to me. Summon your gem weapon."

"What do you want from us?"

"I want to TAKE REVENGE FOR JASPER! But you can't guarantee anything in this world anymore" She summoned her gem weapon, which was a white-and-periwinkle sword, from her gem, which was on her left shoulder. "So I guess I'll have to EARN it!" She lunged first at Garnet, who dodged the attack, then, as if she saw an opening, she used her gauntlets to take her weapon away, but was caught by Crystal.

"Man, even your fusions are weak!" she commented with a devilish smirk.

"Not all of them!" an ecstatic voice came from a distance.

Smoky Quartz had come back. She was showing off with her giant yo-yo, which was a combination of Steven's shield and Amethyst's whip.

"Well, let's see about THAT!" She then ran towards Smoky, the same way that Jasper had done back in the Beta kindergarten two years before.

Smoky, not knowing what to do, she ran past her, looked back at her, and struck her with her yo-yo.

"Yeah!" she cried out.

But it was too early to celebrate. Crystal had jumped up into the air, dodged the yo-yo attack, came down to the ground FAST, and hit Smoky square in the chest. Steven and Amethyst unfused and both laid there, brutally beat up. Crystal got her sword and stabbed Amethyst in the back. She instantly poofed. Her gemstone laid there until Crystal picked it up. She then pointed her sword towards Steven's throat.

"Any last words, Rose?"


	3. Chapter 3: The Elite Gem Warrior

**Chapter III** : The Elite Gem Warrior

Steven was infuriated now. Crystal had intruded into his house while he was sleeping, then came within inches of shattering and killing Amethyst.

It was hard for Steven to find action the last couple of months. Now it was hard for him to catch a break these days.

"STEVEN! AMETHYST!" Pearl cried out.

A long silence ensued, with Garnet and Pearl shocked and scared at what had just happened.

"Are you done yet, Rose?" Crystal asked Steven.

"DON'T HURT THEM!"

"Ha. I'm an elite Era 3 Gem warrior. But I'd like to see you try."

Crystal lunged at Garnet with her sword so fast that she poofed before Steven even knew it. She then attacked Pearl, stabbing her in the stomach, and she poofed as well. Crystal grabbed all three gemstones, and along with Amethyst's, took off with them, clutching them in her arms like a baby and laughing evilly.

With no family left after the horrible attack, Steven laid there crying. He couldn't save them, he was too weak to catch up after them. _Wait, didn't Crystal Quartz want to take_ me _?_ he thought.

Then, as if it were someone giving him another chance, Connie came over.


	4. Chapter 4: Good Talk

**Chapter IV** : Good Talk

"STEVEN!" Connie was surprised to see Steven lying there, all beat up, and the silhouette of a Homeworld ship off in the distance.

"Connie! It was horrible! A Gem warrior came, attacked us all, and took off with the other Crystal Gems!"

"That sounds terrible!" Connie rushed over to where Steven laid.

"We need to do something! But I can't, I'm not like the other Gems, I'm too weak to move..."

"Here, I'll help you out", Connie helped Steven up onto his feet and inside the house. Luckily, the house was unlocked, in case the Gems needed anything in there while they were in battle.

"Thanks, Connie" Steven replied shakily.

As the two sat on the couch together, Connie told Steven, "You still have a chance at rescuing the other Gems."

"No, I don't! I already told you..."

"Yes, you do! I've seen you do so many wonderful things in the past! You escaped from the Diamonds, a group of intergalactic, tyrannical space queens who were so hell-bent on trying to _kill_ you! They took your dad and you were so determined to bring him back that you flew up to the freaking stratosphere towards the ship!

"What I'm saying is, you had the potential to do great things, and you never gave up on them! But now, you...have really struggled with that."

This seemed to cheer up Steven a lot. "You're right, Connie!" he responded with a better tone. He then reached over to hug her. "Thanks for cheering me up, Connie. It really helped."

"I'm just glad to help, Steven."

Steven then got up, as if he felt much better physically, and ran to the Warp Pad. "Bye, Connie!" he yelled back quickly

"Bye, Steven!" Connie responded back with.

The Warp Pad activated, and Steven now disappeared in a flash of light from the Warp Pad that was gone as soon as it had came.

"Good talk", Connie said to herself, then walked out of the house towards her home.


	5. Chapter 5: Battle of the Barn

**Chapter V:** Battle of the Barn

Steven warped over to the barn, expecting to see Peridot and Lapis Lazuli sitting together, watching the sixth and final season of "Camp Pining Hearts" but was shocked to see another Gem there...

"Tell me where Rose is and I'll maybe spare you two." Crystal Quartz said to the two Homeworld refugees. She still had the other Crystal Gems in her hand. There was still Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, and...

 _Wait, where's Amethyst?_ Steven's stomach lurched at the thought of this.

"Or maybe she's ALREADY HERE!" sensing Steven behind her, Crystal lunged backwards to him, turned around, and summoned her sword. She swung at him, then...

A deafening ring lasted for a long time, as Steven had summoned his Bubble and was now surrounded by it. Once it disappeared, Peridot started running disorderly towards Crystal, jumped on her back and started to bite and punch her.

"Are you serious? A pathetic Era 2 Peridot that shouldn't have even come into existence is fighting me? Ha, I can shatter you with just a thought, puny Gem!"

"But I - can still - put up - an - effort!" By the time she finished her sentence, she was exhausted and all worn out from her gawkish endeavor at defeating Crystal.

She grabbed the enervated Peridot, swung her like a cowboy would to a lasso, then slammed her into the ground, where she instantly poofed.

 _All my friends are getting poofed,_ Steven thought. _And I could never save them from Crystal's clutches..._

"Damn, Rose. It's a shame that it has to end this way."

She grabbed her sword and swung it at Steven one more time...

"NO IT WON'T!" Lapis cried out. And with her giant water fists, slammed Crystal Quartz just as the blade was about to make contact with Steven. Instead of being hit by the sharp, pointy tip of Crystal's sword like she expected, Steven got hit by the blunt side of the sword so hard from the force of Lapis' attack that he fell unconscious.

Steven was in his scary dream again. The same eerie Gem was a distance away from him, but this time, there was a light bulb in the center of the room. Steven could move this time, but only a little bit. He was able to make his way to the light bulb, pulled the lever, and the room filled with light. It looked like an ordinary little girl's room, filled with My Little Pony and Elena of Avalor and Shopkins toys and all these toys Steven never thought of existed. But the Gem was gone. Or was it?

Steven could also talk this time, but only in soft whispers.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

He heard rattled breathing in the room. Someone was definitely there. But apparently he could only be seen in the dark.

He turned off the light, and saw GREAT BIG TEETH smirking down from above him. Then, as quick as lightning she...GOBBLED HIM UP!

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Steven found himself waking up screaming again, his voice was, thankfully, back to its normal volume.

He was against the barn wall, and wondered why he was here, when he was knocked out back by the Warp Pad...

Then he saw a reunion. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, and even Pumpkin were all surrounding a pile, with their heads down and some, like Amethyst and Lapis, with tears in their eyes. It's as if they were mourning someone...

Steven soon discovered what had happened. He raced over to where the other Gems were and found a horrific sight and couldn't bear to see the remains on the ground -

Peridot had been shattered by Crystal Quartz.


	6. Chapter 6: Heroic Sacrifice

**Chapter VI** : Heroic Sacrifice

"No, no..." Steven backed away form the shards that were once his best friend. He couldn't believe it, he must still be in the nightmare, and that he would wake up any second now with Peridot's innocent voice calling out to him and Lapis from the barn.

But he was in denial. Peridot _had_ been shattered, and he was not dreaming it.

When he realized this, tears formed in his eyes. His _actual_ tears. He knelt next to her shards, scooped them up with his hands, and cried on them, hoping he could bring her back to life. Pearl reached out a hand towards Steven, but Garnet held her back.

But the shards didn't magically combine back together and form a pink Peridot. He can't always cheat death, especially when it's a Gem you're dealing with.

After his attempt at reviving Peridot didn't work, he began to feel angrier. Angry at Crystal Quartz for everything she did today, everything that she had to bring upon their reality, angry for poofing and even killing one of his best friends, laughed, and left (That is not what really happened, it is how Steven re-enacted it).

"She fought bravely," Lapis said after a long silence.

Steven looked up at her, shards still in hand, tears still in his eyes.

"She distracted Crystal Quartz while I was able to get the other Gems. She called her a _clod_ when you were knocked out. You should've seen her, she was so pissed off at her, she summoned her Gem weapon for the first time, saved you and us all, and didn't care if she got shattered.

"She was happy that you were all safe," Lapis finished with.

Steven was infuriated still with Crystal. She didn't have to shatter one of his friends. She could've shattered him and be done with it. _She wanted me to suffer first_ , he thought.

"Where's Crystal Quartz?" he asked the other Gems.

"Steven, don't go doing anything stu-" Pearl began.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" Steven yelled. He started making his way to the Warp Pad in anger.

"Steven, please, don't go shattering Crystal - " Lapis warned him.

"WHY NOT!?

Lapis took a deep breath, then handed him a note. "Because it's what Peridot wanted."

Steven stopped in his tracks.


	7. Chapter 7: The Note

**Chapter VII** : The Note

Steven grabbed the note from Lapis' hand. He read it to himself, carefully, word by word.

The note was from Peridot.

 _Steven,_ _I might not be around when you wake up. But I just want you to know...Thanks. Thanks for everything that you did for me. You saw a potential in me when I was cold and evil. You helped me get along with the other Crystal Gems. You gave me a family._ _When I first met you, I hated this planet and everything on it. But you...gave me a different outlook on life. Now I_ love _this planet._ _Steven, I know the Gem in your dreams. She's coming for all of us very soon. There's a new age of Gems coming and invading Earth, and if you think Crystal Quartz was hard to defeat, this new Gem is about twice as tough._ _Quickly, Steven! Don't shatter Crystal, it'll only make things worse! FLEE THE EARTH! Plea -_

The note ended there. Steven was still crying, but they were mostly tears of joy. The fact that it wasn't his fault for Peridot's death, that he had helped her through her worst times, how she's not here anymore...

He couldn't take it anymore. He ran towards the Warp Pad, the note still in hand, and dropping the shards down next to the Pad.

"Steven, where are you going?" Lapis followed after him.

"I have to take care of business!" Steven responded.

And with that, he disappeared back into the Warp Pad's light, going to where Steven and Peridot's relationship all started -

The Galaxy Warp.


	8. Chapter 8: Gem Stakeout

**Chapter VIII** : Gem Stakeout

Steven reached the Galaxy Warp, where he set the note down and faced the Homeworld Warp. It was still broken, it had been broken since Garnet smashed it after Peridot's arrival on this Earth several years before.

Then he saw a giant Plug Robonoid approaching it. Steven quickly dove to the nearest hiding spot, behind a pillar, and watched as the Robonoid inched towards the defective Pad.

Then she appeared again - Crystal Quartz, the same Gem that had shattered Peridot while Steven was unconscious. The Robonoid seemed to belong to Crystal, because of being bluish-green, it was periwinkle with a white diamond sign on it.

Steven all of a sudden filled up with rage again, and it reached a boiling point every second he looked at her. But, he did not go and try to shatter her for revenge, as he was originally thinking when he woke up. He just sat there on the bottom of the pillar, waiting for Crystal to say something.

Crystal had corrupted Jasper with her. "Don't worry, Jasper. I'll shatter Rose before you'll even notice!"

Steven gulped very nervously.

Jasper growled. "Those damn Crystal Gems keep ruining my plans! But I know that without them, Rose is _weak_. I'll be able to succeed where others have failed before!" Crystal then laughed evilly.

Jasper barked four times, each one more louder than the last. Steven had to cover his ears and not shout, for fear that he might be discovered.

"Don't you worry about your pretty little head. Phantom Quartz is coming over once the Robonoid fixes the Warp Pad. She has the power to heal even corruption. She's tearing Rose, on the other hand, from the inside. Telepathically."

That last word echoed in Steven's mind. _That's who's in my dreams every night!_ Steven thought. _Phantom Quartz_. He repeated this over and over again in his mind until Crystal spoke again.

"Ah, there we go. All fixed!" Steven didn't realize that the Robonoid had finally reached the Homeworld Warp and had already fixed it. He quietly slapped his head because of his injudiciousness.

The Pad suddenly activated, the light reflecting in Steven's eyes as he stared into it, and saw a shadowy figure that was built like Jasper and was as tall as Crystal - Phantom Quartz. Her aura was that of a magic UFO, radiating an ominous purple. The rest of her was jet-black like the night.

She approached Jasper slowly but calmly, ready to heal her. She placed a hand on the corrupted creature's forehead, where her brain would be, and started to sing an eerie chant. At first, Jasper backed away, but couldn't resist Phantom Quartz's anti-corruption song.

When the chant got louder, space and time seemed to have folded in on itself. The world began to get blurred, the images of the Gems becoming distorted, everything was swirling, Steven couldn't see anything, and a massive shift to the right caused Steven to pass out temporarily, and fell into the ocean with a loud SPLASH!.

Then everything was silent. Unsettlingly silent.


	9. Chapter 9: Steven's Mindscape

**Chapter IX** : Steven's Mindscape

When Steven opened his eyes and regained consciousness, he found himself in a place that was unknown to him, but was also very familiar...

It was a vast and dark space, filled with nothingness. He was standing on firm ground at first, but when he glanced down to see where he was, he found out that he was floating miles above the ground, which to Steven looked like miles.

Colors began to dance around the area, and the shadowy figure known as Phantom Quartz appeared.

"Hello, Steven" she responded in a deep, devilish tone.

"(gasp) HOW DID YOU KNOW MY NAME?" he cried out.

"Oh, we met before," she replied creepily, "in your sleep"

"Why the hell were you doing that?"

"You are special, Steven. I feel you're...how would you say this?" She quickly continued, saying, "...underestimated?" She started pacing around the room, looking at Steven occasionally.

"No, the Crystal Gems don't make me feel like that."

"Well then, why did it take them 12 long years for them to FINALLY allow you to go on missions?"

"They want me to be safe. They know what's best for me!"

Phantom Quartz stopped abruptly, then approached Steven slowly.

"They weren't supposed to be motherly figures! They didn't know anything about how to raise a child because they never WERE children! The way they look now was the same way they looked when they were created!"

Now Phantom Quartz was inches from Steven's face. She was only twice as tall as Steven, he thought she was at least five times taller.

"So tell me, Steven...Do you still think they appreciate you?"

"Yes!" he cried out. But Phantom Quartz had another comeback ready for them.

"THEN WHY HAVEN'T THEY RESCUED THEM YET?"

Steven suddenly remembered Peridot - Steven waking up from his horrible dream with Phantom, him seeing her shards on the ground, the note she left him,...

He eyes started flooding with tears again.

"They...They..."

"THEY WHAT? They're still mourning for your little friend instead of caring for you! Steven, _I_ care for you. So join me and together, we can take down those damn rascals!"

"But you're on Crystal Quartz's side" Steven seethed with rage after saying her name, and clutching his fists.

"No, I'm not! You wanna know something?" Phantom whispered with passion into Steven's ear. "I'm using her."

"So, you're saying..." Steven said quietly.

"YES! We can take her down together! You and I can both get revenge on her! Look, I'm not a bad guy. I never was. Crystal _made_ me a villain. She was the one that shattered Pink Diamond. She asked me to go into the mind of Rose Quartz, your..." she stopped to take a breath. "...mother, is that how you would say it?"

Steven nodded.

"Anyway," Phantom continued. "I went into her mind with Crystal, she took over, Rose shattered Pink. She was in fact my _friend_ , back before she met White Diamond's Pearl - "

"So, what are you getting at?" Steven wondered.

"Fuse with me! We have the powers to stop Crystal together! Let's form Ferruginous Quartz!"

"I don't know, Phantom. My fusion powers aren't that strong, and I can only fuse with Connie and Amethyst right now - "

"I know. It's a lot to take in. But just _trust me on this, okay?_ "

"But Peridot said not to shatter her. She said she knew you, called you evil, and said that a new age of Gems were coming to Earth."

"Heh, must be a different Gem you're talking about." For some reason, Phantom Quartz sounded like a combination of Jasper and Blue Zircon...

"Okay, but you better not lie to me about all that!" Steven told Phantom.

"Seriously, how could I make that all up? I'm not _that_ powerful..."


	10. Chapter 10: Ferruginous Quartz

**Chapter X** : Ferruginous Quartz

After Steven and Phantom fused into Ferruginous Quartz, they exited Steven's mindscape and returned to the real world.

"Man, is it GREAT TO BE BACk!" she cried out while stretching.

"STEVEN!?" Pearl was looking for Steven all over the Galaxy Warp, as well as Garnet, Amethyst and Greg. Pearl heard Ferruginous Quartz, turned her head around to see her, and saw the iconic yellow star on her outer bra.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BABY, YOU DAMN PERVERT!" Pearl was absolutely furious at seeing Steven fused with a stranger.

"Wait, wait, Pearl, relax! It's Phantom Quartz I'm with!" Ferruginous replied.

Pearl looked at her questionably, and Ferruginous was sweating slightly. She didn't want - well, Steven didn't want - Pearl to freak out anymore than she already was.

Pearl suddenly stopped. She dropped her spear that she was gonna use in order to attack Ferruginous.

"Ph-ph-ph-Phantom? Is it really you?"

"Uh, well, kind of..."

"Hey, Ferry!" Amethyst called her from the base of the Homeworld Warp. "Why do you have such a large bust? I wish mine was that big!" Ferruginous blushed for a second, then regained her train of thought.

"Guys, this is not the time to talk about my breasts! We fused so that we could take down Crystal Quartz and her army!"

"Army?" Pearl wondered.

Just then, the Homeworld Warp pad activated, and coming out of the blue light was Crystal Quartz and about a hundred Jaspers, armed and ready for combat.

"Hey, Ferruginous Quartz!" She bellowed.

"You know her?" Pearl asked Ferry.

"Yeah, sort of. I think I tried to fight her off and shatter her a couple thousand years ago.

"Back when Rose was still around," Amethyst commented.

"We need more backup. Garnet, take Greg back to Beach City. Amethyst, fuse with me!" Pearl said to the Gems (and human) that she had stated.

Lapis warped to the Galaxy Warp as soon as the words left Pearl's lustrous lips, sensing that Steven hadn't come back in a while. She wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"Steven, were are you-" She stopped abruptly, staring at both Crystal and Ferry.

"Steven? PHANTOM!?" Lapis ran to Ferry and kept on hugging and kissing her.

"Phantom! I missed you!"

"Uh, I...missed you too, Lapis."

Lapis stared up into Ferry's eyes.

"Sorry, it's just that...Steven doesn't know, but Phantom knows, so..."

"Oh yeah, you're not really Phantom. But still, I missed you!" Lapis finally broke away from the loving frenzy and finally noticed Crystal's army making landfall to Earth.

"Lapis," a strange yet also familiar voice called out to her.

Opal had arrived, along with Garnet, who came back from bringing Greg back home.

Crystal was slow-clapping and had stepped down from the Galaxy Warp. "Wow, what a reunion. Why do you think that fusions will be able to stop me? They can't!" She stopped clapping. "And I'm just a weak type of Jasper. Like your pathetic Pearl over there, fused with a pathetic runt. Our Opals on Homeworld aren't twice as stupid as you. Oh right, we don't have any!"

Opal was furious now. "You just take that back RIGHT NOW!" she roared at Crystal.

"Hahaha. Make me!"

She formed her famous bow-and-arrow, using Amethyst's whip as the string and Pearl's spear as the string holder. She lined up a magical arrow, aimed right at Crystal's gem, and fired with a booming FWOOSH!

And with that, the second Gem War for Earth had officially begun.


	11. Chapter 11: Crystal's Army

**Chapter XI** : Crystal's Army

Crystal saw Opal's arrow coming a mile away. She jumped high, dodged the arrow, and it exploded next to the Homeworld Warp, taking Jaspers with it. She sped up, and eventually landed right on top of Opal, instantly poofing her. Crystal then grabbed Amethyst by the arm, which Amethyst gave a scared yelp.

"Time to destroy this disgraceful runt once and for all!"

She summoned her Gem sword, pulled it back, ready to shatter her...

Ferry unfused, leaving Steven and Phantom Quartz vulnerable. Steven rushed over to where Crystal was, crying, "AMETHYST!"

He leaped, pushed Amethyst out of the way of Crystal's blow, and both landed on the ground next to Crystal, with Steven on top of Amethyst.

"Steven..." she said, "You saved me."

"It's no problem, Amethyst" Steven replied back. He got up, helped Amethyst up, and heard Crystal chuckle.

"It's so nice to see your little reunions and your love for each other. But you might not be smiling now, Rose Quartz!"

CRACK!

He looked down at his belly. He saw that his shirt had been ripped through, and even worse - his gem was cracked and was to the point of shattering.

Pearl saw this and was outraged and leaped onto Crystal Quartz. "YOU DAMN MURDERER! I'LL MURDER YOU - "

"Can it, Pearl!" She grabbed her by the leg, swung her around like a lasso, and threw her high up and into the ocean.

"Jaspers, attack!" Crystal ordered the Jasper army she had on the Homeworld Warp and pointed her finger at the remaining Crystal Gems.

All there was left of them were Phantom Quartz, Lapis, Garnet, Steven and Amethyst. They were clearly outnumbered.

Steven's Gem began to crack even more. He stopped freaking out and had enough time to lick his hand, place it on his Gem, and it began to glow, glowing an almost neon pink color until it dimmed down to its original state, now completely healed.

He summoned his shield, went back-to-back with Amethyst, who had her whip, and then the two fused to form Smoky Quartz.

Connie ran. She needed to find Steven. She could tell that he was in trouble. It had been three days since she last heard of Steven, and it was when Crystal Quartz came to Beach City, poofed all the Crystal Gems, and left Steven beat up badly, until she came to the rescue.

Connie sped up the steps. She opened the door, then her stomach did a back-flip.

The Crystal Gems had not come back yet.

All of a sudden, thoughts about Steven and the other Gems flooded into Connie's mind. What if Steven was badly hurt? What if he got _killed_?

Connie began to cry at this thought, then ran to the Warp Pad.

"Take me to Steven!" she managed to say in between tears.

The Warp Pad activated. Connie was shocked. She thought it only worked on Gems. _Am I a gem_? Connie thought. _No, that can't be._

She disappeared into the light from the Warp Pad, and was on her way to Steven.

What Connie saw at the Galaxy Warp was a complete nightmare. Jaspers were all over the place, some were poofed back to their gemstone, and a couple had even shattered.

She saw Smoky, beating up Jaspers here and there with her special yo-yo. She saw another fusion that she wasn't quite sure who it was. She couldn't find Steven anymore.

"Where's Steven?"

As if it heard her, a soft whisper ensued. _Yo-yo_.

"That's Steven?"

 _Fusion._

"With who?"

 _Purple._

"Who's purp - " She suddenly realized a shocking result that she didn't even know about until the Warp Pad weirdly whispered to her.

Steven and Amethyst had fused.


	12. Chapter 12: Jasper's Redemption

**Chapter XII** : Jasper's Redemption

Smoky ended up being surrounded and had Jaspers all around her. Connie saw this, pulled out her sword, ran to Smoky and stabbed the nearest one. She instantly poofed back into her gemstone.

"Connie!" Smoky cried out.

"Wow, you two fused! But, how?" Connie asked.

"It's kind of a long story." With Connie's arrival, Smoky seemed to get her mojo back and continued to beat up Jaspers with her yo-yo. But now she had to use three yo-yos instead of one.

Connie helped her, and before they knew it, they had defeated all of the Jaspers that came over to their side.

"C'mon, let's go help Lapis and Phantom!" Smoky suggested.

"Lapis and who?"

"Just, follow me." Connie did so until they reached the second fusion that she saw when she first came here.

"Hey, you guys!" she called out.

"Connie, this is Blue Aventurine. She's a fusion of Lapis and Phantom Quartz, who's our new ally." Smoky summed it all up for Connie.

"OK, that makes more sense." Connie responded with.

The two then jumped in to Aventurine's battle against _her_ Jaspers and within seconds, they had defeated all of them.

"Give it up, Crystal Quartz!" Smoky called out to her and pointed a finger at her. "No matter how many Jaspers you throw at us, you can't stop the CRYSTAL GEMS!"

"Man, I really gotta hand it to you, you weren't as weak and pathetic as I thought you would be. But are you any match for me and Jasper!"

Just then, a shadow approached out of the ocean surrounding the Galaxy Warp, and Jasper appeared, wearing a scary grimace. She overall looked the same, but her clothes were ripped, one arm was slightly bigger than the other, her other arm still had orange spikes on it, but they were small. Her bust was slightly bigger, and so were her legs.

"Hello, Rose," she said.

Suddenly, she summoned her Gem weapon, a helmet, and charged right at Smoky, who was defenseless. She had no way of escaping fast enough with her yo-yo. The pillars were too far away from her yo-yo's reach...

Jasper hit her with a strong and mighty BANG! and Smoky unfused, leaving Steven and Amethyst both badly beat up again. She grabbed Amethyst, threw her like a lasso, and slammed her to the ground multiple times until she was unable to move, much less defend Jasper's attacks.

Steven threw her shield at Jasper, but it bounced off her helmet unaffectedly. She inched closer and closer to Amethyst's gemstone, tilted her head back, and...

"STOP! TAKE ME INSTEAD!" Steven cried out.

"Steven, what are you doing?" Aventurine asked him.

Jasper looked at Steven for a minute, then dropped Amethyst down, who poofed instantly.

"Don't shatter Amethyst, she's my friend, and she deserves so much more in life. It's me you want to shatter." Steven explained.

"Alright, Rose. I'll take you on." She let out a wide, evil grin and grabbed her by the shirt. Steven was ready for his fate. She tilted her head back once again, this time with more power, and...


	13. Chapter 13: The Awakening

**Chapter XIII** : The Awakening

Out of nowhere, Jasper felt a sudden and sharp stinging in her back. She turned around to see Pearl, perfectly healthy, and her spear, which was lodged in Jasper's back. Jasper dropped Steven, who fell with a hard THUMP! and Jasper poofed.

"Steven!" Pearl cried out in alarm. She rushed over to and hugged him. "Are you all right?" Pearl asked him. Steven looked up at Pearl. There was something in her eyes that was different that usual...

"Yeah, I'm all right," Steven finally responded.

Pearl stepped on Jasper's gemstone and pushed harder until it turned into shards of dust. Jasper was no more.

"Pearl..." Steven began.

"I'm sorry, Steven." She let go of Steven, who got up, and looked at her questioningly. "It's just that - Jasper has done some pretty bad stuff to you, and to us, the last three years. It just doesn't make sense to keep up with those shenanigans any longer. I...am just frustrated with her, is all."

"UHHHH! You Crystal Gems are always RUINING my damn plans!" Crystal Quartz shouted. "But no worries. I'll finally defeat you stupid little runts once and for all, even if it means I'll get SHATTERED!" She put her arms out, unclenching her fists, and wisps of spirit surrounding her. She began to float, but was only a couple inches off the ground.

The wind began to pick up. It began to sweep the heroes off of their feet, so they grabbed the pillars on the edge of the Galaxy Warp. Steven quickly let go of Pearl and ran back for Amethyst's gemstone. He struggled to make up ground as the wind was extremely strong. But finally, he made it to where her gem was, grabbed it, and took off flying towards the ocean. Luckily, Pearl caught him and held on to him tight.

Then, Crystal Quartz began to glow. She was now all white, and as white as a cloud in the summertime. She also began to change shape. Her hair became longer. She moaned in pain as her face and teeth grew longer. Her arms turned to legs and claws. She screamed even more in pain. Her body became longer and hairier. Her bust and butt nearly disappeared, or at least turned into those of a dog.

The wind abruptly stopped. The heroes fell down hard onto the Galaxy Warp. The all of them gasped at the new form that Crystal had taken.

Crystalline had been awakened.


	14. Chapter 14: Crystalline and Black Pearl

**Chapter XIV** : Crystalline and Black Pearl

"Oh no," Pearl gasped quietly.

Crystalline was a beast, much like a Corrupted Gem, but could be summoned anytime if needed, but would basically sap the life out of you for the next 12 hours. They were known as the Awakened. Every Gem has them, including Steven.

"Pearl, who's that?" Steven asked, pointing towards Crystalline.

"An Awakened," Pearl shuttered in fear.

"What's an Awake-" Steven was stopped suddenly by Amethyst's mouth.

"Shh! She hasn't found us yet!" Amethyst responded.

But to contradict that theory, Crystalline growled, and leaped towards the Crystal Gems with speed and efficiency, poofing three Gems - Lapis, Phantom Quartz and Amethyst - with one fatal swoop.

Pearl was still frozen with fear. She was afraid of the Awakened. She was afraid of _her_ Awakened. She needed it to rebel against White Diamond, her Diamond...She regretted that day, even after she found her preternatural love with Rose Quartz, Steven's mom.

"Pearl, come on! We need to fight her. It's our - " Steven's voice began to drown out. Pearl didn't know what to do. She was still scared of Crystalline. She lost consciousness with the world and kept on spiraling and spiraling out of control in a pit of darkness until eventually she landed into what she recognized as her mindscape.

Her Awakened, Black Pearl - but of human form - was there, as if she was waiting for her to come, just stood there quietly and eerily.

"Hello, Master Pearl."

"Black Pearl, what are you doing here?" Pearl cried out in alarm. "I haven't seen you in thousands of years!"

"That's because you think it's too harsh to save your friends. You didn't awaken me from my slumber during the last Gem War. YOU KILLED BISMUTH'S FRIENDS!"

"STOP IT!" Pearl yelled.

"Oh, really? I can think of many damn reasons why I should be summoned into battle."

"Steven...would be traumatized," Pearl said, weakly. She was crying.

"Oh, did I upset Master Pearl's feelings? Well, too bad, bucko. That's life. _Earth life_ " Black Pearl added that last remark creepily.

"And why the hell do you think I care?" Pearl readied her spear quietly so that Black couldn't hear her with her rambling on about Pearl's weaknesses.

When Black wasn't paying attention, Pearl jumped up, high in the air, back facing Black. She did a graceful 360 in the air, zoomed fast down towards Black, who had _her_ spear ready, and thrust her spear into Black Pearl's gemstone, instantly shattering and killing Black Pearl.

Pearl was breathing heavily after trying to fight off Black. But a voice still echoed throughout her mindscape.

"I'll be back soon."

Then, Pearl exited the mindscape and returned back to the real world, where he found Steven and Amethyst both trying to wake her up.

"PEARL!" they both cried out. "Thank God you're okay!" Steven added.

"He - I - what happened?" Pearl asked, holding her head in pain.

"Crystalline knocked you out, but we fused and defeated her!" Amethyst pointed to where Crystal Quartz lay, her clothes all ripped up and hair all riffled. She was out like a light.

Pearl sighed. "Thanks, you two."


	15. Chapter 15: Yellow Diamond's Message

**Chapter XV** : Yellow Diamond's Message

"Uh, Pearl?" Amethyst got her attention and looked over to where Lapis stood. An ominous beam rose up from the ocean, but it didn't seem to belong to Lapis. Someone that had to have been of extremely high authority...

It shifted and shaped into a hi-def television screen, where a giant yellow lady stood, talking. The voice was practically muted until it grew louder and louder until it was as loud and booming as thunder.

"Hello, rebels!" Yellow Diamond said, disgusted.

Amethyst gave a gasp and Pearl couldn't speak. And then, as if the other Gems weren't as shocked at Yellow's appearance, Steven got up and walked closer to the giant screen. Meanwhile, Lapis turned around and saw the giant screen and ran to Steven's aid.

"What do you want with us?" Steven cried out to Yellow.

"I want you to prepare for battle again or surrender. There will be another army of even tougher soldiers making their way here. If you surrender, they will kill all the humans and shatter all of you. But if you fight...either way, you'll all die!" Yellow told Steven.

"You can't stop us all, Yellow Diamond!" Steven responded. He then thought back to Peridot's shattering, how they fought and fought and STILL couldn't find a win-win scenario. No matter how many times they tried, they failed to keep the safety of their friends, their family, their home, safe from the unstoppable wrath of the Great Diamond Authority.

"Tell me this, Yellow Diamond!" Lapis started shouting while holding Steven's hand. "Peridot wanted nothing but the safety of her friends! She saved herself so that everyone could be alive right now, even if it meant that she would have to DIE! And she was wise to stand up to you, because you're a SELFISH, EVIL BITCH!"

Everyone was shocked at what Lapis had just said.

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE DAMN RIGHT TO CURSE ME OUT LIKE THAT!" Yellow Diamond was furious now.

Lapis looked down at Steven and mouthed the words "Let's fuse" to which Steven replied with a nod. The two hugged enrapturedly and eventually fused into Chalcedony.

Pearl was shocked to even move. Lapis calling a Diamond, especially when it's not her own Diamond, a curse word and she then fusing with Steven!? Pearl just couldn't take it. She passed out again, and that unfortunately meant another visit to her mindscape.

When she opened her eyes, however, she wasn't in her mindscape. She was in a place that she's never been to, and frankly, if she knew where she was, she wouldn't have wanted to be at.

She was in Crystal Quartz's, or rather Crystalline's, mindscape.


	16. Chapter 16: Pearl's Escape

**Chapter XVI** : Pearl's Escape

Crystal's mindscape was empty and desolate. It was nearly all black, except for the ground, which was a white-green. The whole place seemed to have a greenish-tone to it, which made Pearl shiver with fear.

"WHY AM I HERE!? AND WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" Pearl cried out in alarm.

"I brought you here so I can unleash your true power!" an ominous voice called out to her.

Out of the shadows was Crystal Quartz, but this time, she looked different - unusual, in fact. Her clothes were ripped, and she looked slightly more beast than human.

"My true power?" Pearl asked.

"Yes, your true power!" Crystal replied hastily and started walking towards her. "I know who you really are, what your Awakened is, and I can help you with that!" she smirked atrociously.

"I refuse to Awaken it, ever since I joined Rose's rebellion, and I refuse to do it now!"

Crystal grabbed Pearl by the arm and held her by her suit.

"Listen, you weak rascal; I'm trying to unlock secrets within you that you couldn't began to answer, but you're not acknowledging your past! And if you're unable to do that willingly, then I guess I'll have to FIGHT FOR IT!" Crystal dropped Pearl onto the ground and summoned her gem sword.

"Well, if it has to be this way..." Pearl said to herself and summoned her spear, ready to fight.

Crystal made the first move. She ran quickly at Pearl, who jumped up gracefully in the air and fell back down quickly, with her spear aimed at Crystal's head. Unfortunately, Crystal caught the spear before Pearl was successfully able to poof her, threw her around like a lasso apace, and released her, Pearl flying all the way to the other side of Crystal's mindscape...

* * *

Chalcedony was having a hard time trying to fend from an army of Era 3 Quartz shoulders sent by Yellow Diamond at the Galaxy Warp. Meanwhile, Amethyst was trying to wake her up.

"Pearl? PEARL!? Wake up, P! We gotta beat these baddies, Chalce can't handle all of them!"

"Really, I'm fine, Amethy - "

Just then, Chalcedony got hit by three soldiers surrounding her, in the head, and instantly defused back into the components of Steven and Lapis Lazuli.

Amethyst squealed and shook Pearl more vigorously.

"WAKE UP, P! CHALCE JUST UNFUSED! WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW!"

* * *

In Crystal's mindscape, Pearl could hear Amethyst's shouting.

"AMETHYST!" As if she got a full blast of energy from that, she ran at almost a supersonic speed towards Crystal with her spear aimed at Crystal's gemstone.

Crystal saw what was happening and decided to get rid of this Pearl once and for all.

"Back for more, then - "

But before she could finish, Pearl had stabbed Crystal right in her gemstone, causing it to crack and ultimately shatter.

Pearl had finally shattered Crystal Quartz. She felt like a true Crystal Gem now.

Then Crystal's mindscape began to collapse. Pearl had to get out of there ASAP. She thought really hard about returning home, and in a kaleidoscopic swirl of vivid rainbow colors, Pearl regained consciousness and returned back to the Galaxy Warp, where she saw three horrible sights that would make her rage.

Lapis had been shattered and her shards lay on the ground next to one of the soldiers.

Amethyst was struggling as she was captured in the arms of another soldier.

And worst of all, in Pearl's opinion - +

Steven was lying on the ground, bruised up and unconscious.


	17. Chapter 17: Benitoite

**Chapter XVII** : Benitoite

"STEVEN!" Pearl got up and stood in horror at what she saw below her.

"Hey, it's okay, P! He's just unconscious!" Amethyst tried to assure her. But it just wasn't working. To Pearl, Steven being unconscious was just as worse as him being dead.

"HE'S UNCONSCIOUS!?" Pearl screeched and then started crying, kneeled down in front of Steven, at what would happen if he never woke up. This was her last chance at being with Rose, the one who gave her life meaning, the one who was proud of her no matter what. But that wasn't what she cared about anymore.

She cared about Steven and Steven only.

* * *

Connie was still confused at why the Warp Pad spoke to her and found Smoky Quartz for her. Do they usually do that? Connie never understood Gem technology that well.

Now, standing in the kitchen of Steven's house, pacing back and forth, and thinking about the mysterious phenomena that she had just witnessed, she tried to develop a stable hypothesis on it.

 _Someone was in the Warp Pad with me?_

No, there wasn't anyone there, or else she would know.

 _Someone was calling from behind me?_

Probably not, since Pearl was smack in the middle of an ocean and wasn't within yelling distance. Plus, it sounded more manly than Pearl.

 _There's a Gem stuck in the Warp Pad?_

Exactly like Lapis was several years before. Stuck in a mirror.

Connie raced to the Galaxy Warp and warped there, and while she was in the stream, she tried to call out for someone.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" No reply.

"Heelllooo?" Still no reply.

Connie was just about to give up when a shadow emerged from outside of the stream. She was a shade of blue, with eerie white pupils for eyes. It inched ever so closer to Connie. She started to freak out, then it spoke.

 _Connie._

"Are you...the Gem that spoke to me at the Galaxy Warp?" she asked the mysterious Gem.

 _Yes._

"What do you want from me?"

 _Release. Me._

"And how do I do that?"

 _Take. Off. Cloak._

"Okaay." She then grabbed a corner of the cloak that made her so mysterious, grasped it firmly, and pulled it off, revealing the Gem that had spoke to her at the Galaxy Warp.

It was a blue Gem, and was a very unique one indeed.

It was the gem Benitoite.

* * *

Steven woke up to a strange sight.

Pearl was cradling him in his arms, crying and hoping desperately that his beating heart was still alive. Amethyst had made a dent in the army of Quartz soldiers, and now, there were only half of them left standing.

A Warp Pad activated and Connie and an unknown Gem appeared.

"Steven!" Connie saw him in Pearl's arms.

"Connie!" he let go of Pearl and raced towards Connie, and the two were embraced in a warm, loving hug.

"It's been so long, I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Connie." When Steven let go, he caught sight of the unknown Gem and asked her, "Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Benitoite, she was somehow stuck in the Warp stream and I was successful in fishing her out!" Connie make a gesture referring to swinging a fishing rod. Steven got the joke and laughed.

Just then, Pearl ran towards Benitoite and attempted to stab her, like she did with Crystal Quartz in Crystalline's mindscape. But she was stopped abruptly by a blue telekinetic power being emitted from Benotoite with just a simple hand gesture, and with a thrust of her arm, sent Pearl flying back to where she originally was.

"Look, I'm on your guys' side now! Stop fighting me!" Benitoite's voice reminded Steven very oddly of Stevonnie's.

"Wait, what are we talking about? And where's Lapis?" Phantom Quartz came back, with Pumpkin by her side.

Steven had to tell Phantom the truth.

"Um, I sorry to say this, but...Lapis is gone."


	18. Chapter 18: Plan of Attack

**Chapter XVIII** : Plan of Attack

Phantom was speechless. She couldn't find the words to describe her feeling.

Then her eyes teared up. She clenched a fist at Steven, but held back, and found herself running away towards the Warp Pad. She shoved Benitoite out of the way, and Benitoite was ready to attack back, but Connie restrained her.

"I hope Phantom doesn't keep this up forever," Amethyst sighed.

"Me too, Amethyst. Me too." Steven replied, and decided to follow after Phantom to the Warp Pad.

* * *

"We need to attack that miserable chunk of rock IMMEDIATELY!" Yellow Diamond boomed.

"We can't yet, Yellow!" Blue Diamond had to yell back in order to keep up with her.

The two Diamonds were on Yellow's ship, destined towards Earth. But the two were arguing over whether they should or shouldn't go there and shatter the criminal known as Rose Quartz.

"Why not? I thought that you wanted to get rid of Rose Quartz once and for all!"

"I DO, YELLOW! But at least I have my restraints!" Blue responded coldly.

"There's no such thing as restraints, Blue, you either take the course of action or you do nothing! You have held me back from what I wanted to accomplish ever since Pink died, and you still haven't gotten over her!"

Blue's eyes swelled up with tears again at the mention of Pink Diamond's name.

"Look, I know you miss her..." Yellow knelt down next to Blue and tried to comfort her once again. "But you can't just stand around here and be so...blue all the time. Do I really need to sing you the song again?"

"No, I'm-I'm fine..." Blue stuttered weakly. But was she really?

"Good. Then we should be able to make a plan of attack as soon as possible. Come on, Blue, we've got work to do!" Yellow prompted.

Blue thought for a while about her true opinion on Rose Quartz, then reluctantly followed Yellow out of the conference room they were situated in.+

Their destination: Earth.


End file.
